11/12/2020 Grand Rounds

Eric D. Achtyes, MD, MS, DFAPA
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry West Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

In this presentation Dr. Eric Achtyes will review some of the literature regarding the importance of adherence to antipsychotic medications for those with schizophrenia, the risk of relapse with nonadherence and strategies to address this with patients. He will then describe the design and findings from a recently completed large, simple, cluster-randomized, clinical trial of participants with first-episode and early phase schizophrenia, the PRELAPSE study, including practical tips for clinicians when discussing the possibility of using long-acting injectable antipsychotics early in the course of treatment for schizophrenia.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the frequency of relapse in first episode psychosis when nonadherent to antipsychotic treatment.

2. Discuss barriers among prescribers to prescribing LAIs for individuals with schizophrenia.

3. Describe the unique design characteristics and findings from the PRELAPSE study.